Truck, cars collide on I-95 in Fairfield

Published 8:44 pm, Wednesday, April 18, 2012

FAIRFIELD -- A flatbed tractor-trailer collided with several cars before crashing into the median on Interstate 95 near exit 25 southbound Wednesday afternoon, spilling its load of stones and creating major delays on both sides of the highway, State Police and fire department officials said.

Four people, including the driver of the tractor-trailer, were hospitalized with minor injuries, Assistant Fire Chief Stephen Curry said.

Curry said the first unit on scene found the truck, two cars in the southbound lanes and two cars in the northbound lanes involved in the 2:45 p.m. crash. He said the tractor trailer and two cars collided while traveling southbound and all three hit the median divider. The two cars sustained heavy damage and the tractor trailer lost its cargo load of bricks and cement paving stones.

Curry, with more than 20 years experience as a Fairfield firefighter, said it was "one of the biggest messes I've ever seen on the turnpike."

The truck's fuel tank was punctured and fuel spilled onto the roadway, Curry said. He said Fairfield crews plugged the tank, made a dam and collected the fuel. He said about 50 gallons of fuel went into the storm sewer, which was extracted by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Connecticut Tank Removal.

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Traffic was backed up into Darien, with the start of rush hour adding to the delays. The southbound lanes were reopened by 4 p.m.

DEEP and DOT crews remained on the scene to clean up until about 5:30 p.m.